The present invention is directed to a waffle baker grill for producing a waffle including a first heating plate, a second heating plate and at least one scoring flange. The waffle baker grill produces waffles that may be divided into a plurality of waffle sticks along scoring lines created by the scoring flanges.
The general concept of producing waffles using a pair of heating plates that are pivotally connected to each other is generally well known. The heating plates of a conventional waffle baker are heated to a predetermined temperature, batter is disposed onto one of the heating plate surfaces and a second heating plate is positioned adjacent to the first heating plate to heat and cook the batter. The batter is cooked for a predetermined amount of time to produce a waffle. It is well known to include walls and mounds on the heating plates that contain the batter, define a peripheral shape of the waffle and create wells on various surfaces of the waffle. Conventional waffle bakers generally produce rounded or rectangular shaped waffles that are removed from the heating plates for consumption. Such conventional waffles have generally flat upper and lower surfaces with an array of wells for receiving syrup or other condiments. Conventional waffles are not readily separable into discrete smaller waffles by hand. That is, conventional waffles can only be readily separated into evenly divided discrete small waffles using cutting utensils.
In view of the increasing demand for new, innovative food products for the commercial food market and home use, methods and apparatus for obtaining different types of food products become increasingly desirable. For instance, there is a need for a waffle baker that can produce waffles that are readily separated into discrete smaller waffles or waffle sticks by hand.
The waffle baker grill of the present invention includes a series of scoring flanges that protrude from surfaces of the first and second heating plate surfaces, which produce scoring lines on surfaces of a cooked waffle. These scoring lines may be used to divide the cooked waffle into a plurality of convenient to use waffle sticks. These waffle sticks are easily manipulated using a single hand and may be dipped into a condiment, such as maple syrup, chocolate or sugar, for consumption. Moreover, the waffle baker grill of the present invention also discloses a waffle product that may be divided into sub-waffles or a plurality of waffle sticks. Accordingly, the waffle baker grill of the present invention provides flexibility to a user, in that, the waffle product produced by the waffle baker grill may be used to produce waffles that may be divided by hand into sub-waffles or separated by hand into a plurality of easy to manipulate and consume waffle sticks.